Thursday, January 17, 2013

Due Process Preserved

The following is President Gruber's statement in regard to the agreement we reached today with the Governor:

As
you know, we’ve been discussing with the Governor’s office for some months
proposed changes to law relating to a fair dismissal process for teachers. It
was through our sustained efforts last year, you should recall, that we
preserved Continuing Contract and made it untenable for the Governor to again
propose term contracts in this legislative session.

This
afternoon, after securing improved legislative language that we fought very
hard for, we reached agreement with the Governor’s office on an acceptable
bill. We preserved due process for teachers. We prevailed on cutting out
language regarding the definition of “teacher” that would have meant that some
in specialist positions would not have been eligible for continuing contracts.
We moved the discussion from a straight five-year probationary period to a
period that is three to up to five years, at the school board option.

On
behalf of the Legislative Committee, I’m proud to say that through our
involvement, teachers have a voice in changes that affect our profession. The
public statement we’re distributing to news media is below.

Statement
by VEA President Meg Gruber

The
Virginia Education Association advocates high-quality instruction in the
Commonwealth’s public schools, and the 60,000 educators who are our members
provide just that on a daily basis.

Virginia’s
schools rank among the best in the nation, and our teachers have risen to meet
higher expectations posed by tougher student performance standards. They’ve
done this in spite of an increase in paperwork and other duties that take away
from time to focus on lessons. The vast majority of our teachers do an
excellent job in the face of significant challenges that increase each year.

Teachers
who are struggling should receive support to help them improve their
performance. When that falls short, however, the dismissal process must be fair
to all concerned.

In
consultation with our members across the state, we’ve been working with
Governor McDonnell, Secretary of Education Laura Fornash, and others to improve
the teacher dismissal process so that it is efficient and fair. We have agreed
with the Governor on several proposed changes to existing law, including:

·A measure that gives local school boards the option of
extending the probationary process for a new teacher from three to five years
to allow more time to evaluate performance;

·Technical changes to the hearing process in teacher
grievances and dismissals. The changes include a shortened timeframe and the
appointment of a single impartial hearing officer instead of a three-member
panel.

We
believe the VEA’s involvement in the process has resulted in an improved bill,
and Virginia’s teachers have had a meaningful voice in laws that directly
affect their profession.